Photographer's Note

‘Mumbai - Message on a wall’

A few years ago India got in the news with some brutal gang rapes of young women.
Mass protests broke out after one of the victims died from her injuries. Meanwhile the Indian government has entered several new rules for rape cases but not that much has changed.

The first article I read in a newspaper during my journey was about a new rape case (in New Delhi) and also committed with great violence.

Since the gruesome rape in 2012, the number of reports has risen by 40 percent.
In 2015, as many as 35.000 women went to the police and 7.000 convictions followed.

Yet many women feel humiliated and intimidated when submitting their complaint or even at the medical examination afterwards. This makes that sometimes they drop the charge. If they persevere, they have to deal with a slow legal process.

To me this already half-decayed mural seemed to refer to those rape cases.

International Women's Day, every year on March 8th, is all about militancy and solidarity of women around the world.
The mural calls for respect.
So perhaps an interesting photo for today.

But there is also good news from India.

The number of child marriages is decreasing worldwide.
South Asia draws the biggest decline in the number of child marriages in the last decade and this is largely due to the progress in India.

When a girl is forced to marry as a child, this has consequences for the rest of her life.
She has much less chance to finish her school, a greater risk of ending up in poverty and she is more likely to be abused.
Here India has made great progress. Yet today there are an estimated 650 million women around the world who are married when they were minors.

Hi Paul,one of the most original way to celebrate the womens day..ehehhe..direct from India,very intelligent words on the wall that you caught in a perfect way,i like it! Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

Hello Paul,
It's an attractive and original graffiti, and an appropriate photo for today. The message is more important than the picture, however well taken it is. Tomorrow we go back to International Men's Day, celebrated 364 days a year, which is a stupidity beyond comprehension. It is clear beyond any doubt that a good education for all girls raises the level of the entire society. How job opportunities, salaries, professional careers, access to health services etc etc should depend on our genitalia is impossible for anyone to explain or justify.
Best regards,
Gert

Hello Paul,
This is a very contemporary message depicted, with the MeeTo campain around going on - but it has strong cnnectin to what happening in India as common thing: harassment of women, etc.
Good documentary posted, though it is a graffiti - but conveys well what it meant to do.
Good evening,
Ike

Hello Paul,
Thanks for sharing this art with a message. This silhouette of a woman is a great place to write this thought, and I also like the color and texture of the surrounding wall. Let's hope for more progress around the world. In so many places it's very slow to come...

Hello Paul, Excellent contribution for the International Women's Day. Interesting note and sad note about what experience the women have, how often they are abused. It seems to me that in India the position of the woman is very low, let's hope it will change. well seen and good choice for the post.

Thank you for this, Paul!
The photograph is very graphic and your notes back it up well with unprejudiced information.
The thought of abuse that some of these females, young and old, have experienced is barbaric!
It isn't that long ago that females were subjected to crude, dismissive and embarrassing questioning, in this country, with regard to rape charges but thankfully times have changed. Let's hope that the same happens quickly in these Asian countries.

Original message on the Women's Day (not in all countries) and I wonder that you found this message in India, sometimes I think in this land women are only a way to give birth to children, very well spotted
regards Ryszard